New Coalition finance spokesman Barnaby Joyce has declared that all Coalition policies are now up for renegotiation.

"It's a new cabinet, it's a new position, we've got a new leader," he declared in an interview with ABC Online's The Drum, adding that the Nationals now enjoyed enhanced power within the Coalition as a result of his appointment.

"In finance I hope we've got the capacity not to determine the outcome, but to have a strong position of influence on the outcome."

When asked if he would continue to defy the Liberal Party and shadow cabinet on the issue of Labor's National Broadband Network, Mr Joyce replied: "The position on that is that cabinet doesn't have a position on that. Everything's changed. New cabinet, new position."

But he did offer that "whatever cabinet comes up with, I'll abide by".

Senator Joyce also spoke strongly about the foreign policy implications of the Rudd Government's international borrowings.

"This is money that people want back. Most of them are from overseas. How much more money do you want to owe to these people? The biggest one being the Communist People's Republic of China," he said.

"There comes a time when you stop calling your bank manager Bob, and you start calling him Mr Smith. You start calling him Mr Smith when you owe him far more money than you are comfortable with."

The comments, which are outside Senator Joyce's new portfolio responsibilities, are likely to increase anxiety within the Coalition about his propensity for outspokenness.

But Mr Abbott, speaking on ABC's Lateline last night, insisted that he wanted an aggressive team.

"What I wanted, Tony, was a frontbench that was going to take the fight to the Government," he told host Tony Jones.

"What I wanted was a frontbench that was going to make a contest of the next election. Not from the right, not from the left, but from the mainstream.

"A frontbench that was going to articulate mainstream concerns about the new emissions tax, about the interest rate rises, about the loss of control of our borders, about all the broken promises of Mr Rudd. That's what I wanted and I tell you what, I've got a pretty feisty team."

Mr Abbott concluded that his was a high-risk strategy.

"Well, if we win the election, I'll be regarded as genius. If we don't win, I'll probably be political roadkill at some point in time."